FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
Yemen's Houthi rebels fired a missile at a US warship patrolling the Gulf of Aden on Friday, forcing it to shoot down the missile, US military officials said on Friday.
The attack on the USS Carney marks the escalation of the largest confrontation at sea involving the US Navy in the Middle East in decades.
It is also the first time the Houthis have directly attacked a U.S. warship since they began attacking ships in October, a U.S. official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about the incident.
But the US military's Central Command said the Houthis fired the missile "in the direction" of its warship. As in past attacks, the Pentagon said it was difficult to determine exactly who the Yemeni group's rebels were trying to hit.
Since the Israel-Hamas war began, the US has tried to tone down the description of attacks targeting its bases and warships in an attempt to prevent the conflict from escalating into a wider regional war.
It's important to recognize that Friday's attack on the US warship was direct, said Brad Bowman, senior director at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
"They're finally calling a spade a spade, and they're saying that, yes, they're trying to attack our forces, they're trying to kill us," Bowman said.
The softening of the language, although intended to prevent the war from expanding, has had the opposite effect, empowering the Houthis, he added.
In Friday's attack, an anti-ship ballistic missile came close to the USS Carney warship, which has been involved in US operations to try to stop the Houthi campaign since November, Central Command said.
"The missile was successfully shot down by the USS Carney," Central Command said.
No injuries or damage were reported, she added.
Houthi rebels, who are backed by Iran, say attacks in the vital Red Sea shipping strait are being carried out on ships bound for Israel in response to the war in the Gaza Strip.
The United States and Great Britain have launched a bombing campaign against the Houthi group's targets in Yemen, in an attempt to stop their attacks on merchant ships in the Red Sea./ REL
Lini një Përgjigje